A  Reconstructive 
Policy  in  Mexico 

By  M.  C.  ROLLAND 


Notable  first  meeting  of  Laborers  under  an  old  tree,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolution. 


Published  by 

LATIN-AMERICAN  NEWS  ASSOCIATION 
1400  Broadway,  New  York  City 


A  Reconstructive  Policy  in  Mexico 

By  M.  C.  HOLLAND 


The  most  important  and  promising  movement  of  modern  times 
for  securing  the  welfare  of  the  majority  of  mankind  is  the  Social- 
istic. All  previous  existing  systems,  including  the  religious  and 
the  commercial,  have  failed  owing  to  the  revulsion  of  mankind 
since  the  time  of  Plato  against  the  exploitation  of  the  masses. 
Socialism  alone  has  proved  an  adequate  instrument  for  convert- 
ing humanitarian  theories  into  the  hard  metal  of  accomplished 
realities. 

The  progressive  efforts  of  the  Socialists  in  Europe,  the  bril- 
liant showing  they  have  made  in  New  Zealand,  and  the  agitation 
throughout  South  America  towards  shaking  off  the  remnants  of 
the  feudal  yoke,  are  phenomena  on  which  the  gaze  of  the  world 
is  riveted  today. 

Among  such  phenomena,  the  Mexican  Revolution  stands  out 
prominently;  and  in  spite  of  all  the  mantles  with  which  Capital- 
ism has  endeavored  to  cloak  it,  the  Mexican  agitation  shows 
more  and  more  definite  Socialistic  tendencies,  which  are  of  tre- 
mendous importance  to  every  South  American  country,  and  no 
less  vital  to  the  North  American  people,  who,  in  their  turn,  will 
have  to  solve  the  same  problems  that  are  now  being  worked  out 
in  Mexico,  notwithstanding  the  superior  material  progress  of  the 
northern  hemisphere. 


HOW  LONG  WILL  THE  REVOLUTION  LAST? 

In  Mexico,  we  have  had  inexorably  to  answer  the  call  of  civil 
war,  which  will  last  as  long  as  there  is  on  the  one  side,  a  tend- 
ency to  monopolize  the  riches  of  the  land,  to  insist  on  privileges 
and  concessions  obtained  through  actual  robbery  of  the  rights 
of  the  people ;  and  on  the  other  side,  the  strivings  of  those  who 
demand  equality,  justice,  and  education,  and  claim  the  right  to 
comfort  and  contentment.  Civil  strife  will  cease  only  when  the 
working  classes,  those  who  have  no  capital,  secure  their  econor&ic 
liberty  by  means  of  a  political  and  social  organization  more  in 
conformity  with  the  pure  moral  principles  that  supposedly  govern 
humanity. 

Our  civil  war,  so  long  and  bloody  and  painful,  has  clearly 
placed  in  evidence  these  conflicting  aims  and  in  like  manner 
has  also  clearly  defined  the  necessity  for  changing  our  social 
order,  for  transforming  our  systems  of  government,  and  for 
creating  small  property  holdings  as  the  bases  of  the  economic 
liberation  of  our  people,  who  then  and  then  only  will  cease  from 
being  a  vagrant  mass  without  any  exact  notion  of  citizenship 
and  without  any  power  of  resistance  as  a  people. 


WHAT  THE  AIMS  ARE. 

These  are  the  high  ideals  that  inspire  the  chiefs  of  the  Mexi- 
can Revolution,  and  if  .until  now  it  has  been  necessary  to  scatter, 
or  even  to  annihilate,  those  who  represent  the  tendencies  of  the 
privileged  classes,  it  is  very  important  that  everybody  should 
know  what  are,  in  the  concrete,  the  first  steps  towards  national 
reorganization  which  are  now  being  taken  firmly  and  seriously, 
in  the  most  profound  conviction  that  the  Socialist  state  should 
be  established.  These  are  the  control  of  public  utilities  without 
speculative  aims  and  the  creation  of  small  interests  by  the  re- 
apportionment  among  all  the  natives  of  land  holdings  and  of  the 
natural  resources  of  the  country,  which  will  tend  to  establish  the; 
Mexican  in  a  peaceful  and  happy  home,  and  so  ultimately  make 
for  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  entire  nation. 

• 

We  do  not  want  a  nation  prepared  to  kill,  like  Germany,  or 
one  organized  mainly  for  material  gain,  like  the  United  States 
of  America.  We  want  a  nation  prepared  for  happiness,  the  ideal 
toward  which  mankind  has  always  striven. 


WRONG  SYSTEM  OF  TAXATION. 

One  of  the  greatest  ills  of  the  Latin-American  countries  con- 
sists in  the  uneven  methods  of  tax  levying.  The  great  lords  of 
the  land  have  always  contrived  to  cheat  the  Exchequer  by  pay- 
ing almost  nothing  for  taxes,  placing  all  the  burden  of  public 
administration  on  the  unfortunate  shoulders  of  the  small  landed 
proprietors  and  on  the  humbler  business  concerns  in  general. 

That  is  one  of  the  most  flagrant  evils  that  the  Mexican  Revo- 
lution is  rectifying.  The  First  Chief,  with  keen  perception  and 
appreciation  of  the  situation,  is  silently  working  with  firm  hand 
for  the  most  minute  investigation  of  all  the  properties  in  the 
Republic,  reappraising  them  and  imposing  on  each  one  the  tax 
proportionate  to  its  value.  We  find  today  that  estates  that  were 
appraised  under  the  old  system  at  a  value  of  twenty  or  thirty 
millions,  have  risen  in  valuation  to  five  and  even  eight  hundred 
millions.  Pause  and  calculate  how  much  better  off  the  national 
treasury  will  be  by  the  equal  division  of  taxes!  On  this  new 
basis,  the  small  concerns  will  have  a  chance  to  breathe,  and 
the  old  Spanish  system  will  be  eliminated  whereby  minor  busi- 
ness houses  and  the  less  prosperous  citizens  used  to  be  the  ones 
most  iniquitously  overburdened  with  taxation,  while  the  influ- 
ential and  opulent  paid  ridiculously  small  sums  in  comparison. 

This  policy  of  the  Revolutionary  leaders  is  the  first  step 
towards  the  doctrine  of  the  single  tax. 

USE  OF  PUBLIC   FUNDS. 

There  is  also  another  political  change  that  every  effort  is  be- 
ing made  to  bring  into  effect  and  which  is  of  immense  improtance 
to  our  people :  that  is,  the  genuine  establishment  of  the  Com- 
monalty Government. 

Up  to  the  present,  it  has  been  the  custom  for  the  dictators 
to  name  a  representative,  entitled  the  "Je^e  Politico,"  the  Chief 
of  Politics  and  Politicians — the  odious  instrument  of  all  tyrants, 
through  whom  the  public  funds  were  concentrated  in  the  coffers 
of  the  various  States  and  of  the  Federation,  where  they  served 
as  a  distraction  for  the  hands  through  which  they  had  to  pass. 
In  this  manner,  although  the  Government  explored  even  the 
remotest  corner  of  the  Republic,  nothing  was  ever  left  that 
would  serve  as  an  incentive  to  develop  private  initiative,  since 


the  only  party  who  could  be  enriched  was  the  "cacique" — the 
political  "boss."  Thus  an  atmosphere  of  discouragement  and 
dejection  prevailed  amongst  the  citizens,  who  never  bestirred 
themselves  for  the  betterment  of  their  districts  because  they  knew 
too  well  that  the  money  given  would  never  be  applied  to  its 
ostensible  object. 

The  First  Chief,  who,  in  the  course  of  his  political  campaign, 
has  passed  through  and  visited  every  place,  -and  knows  fully 
every  necessity  of  our  people,  is  obsessed  with  the  idea  to  in- 
stitute free  independent  municipal  government  in  order  to  give 
the  Mexicans,  for  the  first  time,  the  opportunity  to  augment  the 
prosperity  of  their  respective  cities  and  towns,  and  thus  en- 
courage personal  initiative  to  develop,  with  the  guarantee  that 
there  will  be  no  more  governmental  exploitation.  We  feel  sure 
that  very  soon  in  Mexico  will  come  the  rejuvenation  of  the  beau- 
tiful cities  that  today  lie  in  the  drowsiness  and  lethargy  pro- 
duced by  the  political  tyranny  and  despotism  to  which  they  have 
been  subjected  in  the  past.  And  thus  will  be  opened  up  a  new 
horizon  for  the  Mexican  people,  who  for  the  first  time  will  be 
able  to  live  peacefully  and  contentedly  in  attractive  cities 
equipped  with  all  the  modern  hygienic  improvements. 

There  are  other  places  in  Mexico  like  Tuxpan  which,  owing 
to  its  vast  supply  of  petroleum,  is  one  of  the  richest  spots  on 
earth,  but  where,  on  account  of  the  negligence  of  those  who  sold 
this  source  of  national  wealth,  owing  to  the  iniquitous  centrali- 
zation of  the  public  funds,  there  is  to  be  found  neither  a  water 
supply  nor  any  kind  of  sanitary  service,  and  not  even  a  single 
cart  for  the  removal  of  rubbish  and  refuse.  In  thousands  of 
beautiful  spots  in  Mexico,  richly  dowered  by  Nature,  the  people 
drag  out  a  miserable  existence  in  the  midst  of  the  most  back- 
ward conditions  of  sanitation,  positively  revolting  to  the  natural 
habits  of  the  race,  all  due  to  the  centralization  of  political  and 
economic  power. 

MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT. 

The  Revolutionary  party  is  fully  alive  to  the  situation,  and  the 
adoption  of  free  municipal  government,  which  is  already  being 
put  into  practice  in  almost  every  part  of  the  Republic,  will  be 
the  heroic  remedy.  In  a  little  while  the  desired  transformation 
will  have  taken  place,  and  if  this  were  the  only  work  of  the 
First  Chief  it  would  suffice  to.  make  him  great  among  us.  Being 


on  the  fair  road  to  the  democratic  Socialistic  state,  we  submit 
to  the  world  the  example  of  the  organization  of  our  federal  tele- 
graphic service.  In  spite  of  the  Revolution,  and  with  a  thou- 
sand and  one  other  difficulties  to  contfend  against,  this  service, 
still  controlled  by  the  government,  has  been  improved  and  de- 
veloped to  such  a  degree  that  to-day  we  have  a  magnificent  sys- 
tem with  very  good  service,  at  a  price  five  or  six  times  less  than 
the  telegraphic  service  of  the  United  States,  where  many  public 
utilities  are  exploited  by  companies  which  naturally  seek  to 
obtain  enormous  profits  in  order  to  partition  dividends  among 
the  elect. 

We  prefer  to  lower  the  tariffs  for  the  service  of  the  public 
instead  of  making  money  on  this  popular  necessity. 

The  wireless  service  has  been  improved  to  such  an  extent  that 
we  are  able  to  make  the  assertion  that  the  entire  Republic  is 
covered  by  stations  that  control  the  country  in  a  far  more  effi- 
cient manner,  proportionately,  than  the  same  service  does  in  the 
United  States.  All  this  has  been  accomplished  during  the  Revo- 
lution. 

In  order  more  concisely  to  present  a  case  typical  of  what  the 
Revolutionary  Government  has  accomplished  towards  the  'es- 
tablishment of  the  democratic  Socialistic  State,  I  am  going  to 
present  in  as  few  words  as  possible  the  experience  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  the  State  of  Yucatan,  where  I  spent  six  months  re- 
cently studying  matters  with  reference  to  the  Revolution. 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  YUCATAN. 

In  Yucatan,  the  veritable  Revolution  arrived  with  General 
Alvarado. 

The  State  was  formerly  organized  in  such  a  manner  that  its 
entire  wealth  rested  in  the  hands  of  two  or  three  hundred  indi- 
viduals, and  the  people,  an  indigenous  mass  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  souls,  were  herded  together  in  abject  slavery. 
On  every  plantation  there  was  always  a  priest  who  exhorted 
the  slaves  to  obey  their  master,  the  proprietor  of  the  estate, 
and  promised  them  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as  their  reward  for 
such  obedience. 

All  at  once  the  system  of  debts  was  abolished.  This  was  the 
means  by  which  the  peon,  the  working  man,  had  been  held  in 


subjection  and  fettered  for  life.  This  reform  resulted  in  a  new 
freedom  for  the  working  people.  Liberated  from  debts,  they 
could  move  about  in  search  of  better  wages,  and  consequently, 
wages  have  been  considerably  increased. 

Next,  the  priests,  who  used  to  be  on  the  plantations,  were 
each  supplanted  by  a  school.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
suppress  the  Clericals,  because  it  was  impossible  to  make  any 
progress  in  the  work  of  reform  while  they  insisted  on  using 
their  religious  influence  to  oppose  and  retard  the  best  social  re- 
forms which  the  Revolutionary  leaders  had  planned  and  wanted 
to  institute. 

The  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors  was  prohibited;  cock-fights  and 
bull-fights  were  forbidden,  and  in  their  stead  a  new  impulse  was 
given  to  games  and  sports  such  as  baseball.  In  the  most  out- 
of-the-way  town  of  Yucatan  today,  there  is  as  much  interest  and 
eagerness  about  baseball  as  that  displayed  among  players  and 
spectators  in  the  United  States. 

There  are  about  five  hundred  travelling  libraries;  public  lec- 
tures are  also  given,  besides  which,  a  department  in  charge  of 
public  instruction  has  been  organized  with  a  pedagogue  of  re- 
nown as  head. 

Regarding  economics,  it  was  necessary  to  maintain  a  very 
active  campaign  against  the  powerful  American  Trusts  that  were 
monopolizing  the  henequen  industry,  which  constitutes  the 
wealth  of  the  State.  With  this  aim  in  view,  the  trusts  caused 
an  investigation  into  the  matter.  A  special  investigation  was 
made  by  the  American  Senate,  during  the  course  of  which  the 
justice  of  the  Government  of  Yucatan  was  made  patent.  Just  as 
Frederick  the  Great  forcibly  organized  the  feudal  lords  to  make 
the  rural  treasuries  the  economic  basis  of  the  German  States, 
so  did  General  Alvarado  compel  the  planters,  by  bringing  strong 
official  pressure  to  bear  upon  them,  to  organize  co-operatively 
and  to  unite  for  the  defence  of  the  State.  The  results  are  now 
in  evidence.  Every  one  has  been  convinced  of  the  iniquitous 
monopoly  which  the  trusts  carried  on :  and  now,  eight  or  ten 
million  dollars  in  gold  which  these  gentlemen  used  to  pocket, 
pass  into  the  purses  of  the  henequen  producers,  with  the  result 
that  the  independence  and  stability  of  the  national  product  are 
now  assured. 

In  order  to  fulfil  one  of  the  highest  ideals  of  the  Revolution — 
that  is,  the  economic  freedom  of  the  peon — General  Alvarado 

8 


obtained  the  approval  of  the  First  Chief  to  the  decree  relating 
to  the  distribution  of  lands,  and  then  formed  an  agrarian  com- 
mission to  have  it  put  into  practice.  This  law  enacts  that 
lands  within  the  State,  or  communal  lands,  which  might  have 
been  taken  or  stolen,  will  simply  be  confiscated  and  the  rest 
will  be  expropriated  according  to  their  just  value.  These  lands 
are  being  redistributed  among  those  who  want  to  work  them 
at  the  rate  of  twenty  hectares  of  uncultivated  land  to  each  head 
of  a  family,  and  ten  hectares  if  the  land  is  already  in  process  of 
cultivation  with  henequen.  The  law  lays  down  certain  indis- 
pensable requirements  in  order  to  make  sure  that  production 
shall  increase,  since  it  is  not  the  intention  of  the  State  to  take 
away  lands  from  certain  persons  and  to  pass  them  over  to  others 
who  would  leave  them  unproductive.  He  who  cannot  or  will 
not  work  must  leave  the  land  to  another  who  is  willing  and  able 
to  do  so.  The  solution  of  the  agrarian  problem  is  not  merely  a 
platonic  scheme  to  the  end  that  every  one  may  have  some  land, 
but  it  is  expressly  stipulated  that  an  increase  in  production  must 
be  shown.  Consequently,  this  will  tend  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
people.  Toward  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose  the  Gov- 
ernment is  using  every  possible  means.  A  Department  of  Agri- 
culture has  been  organized  with  a  foreign  expert  at  its  head, 
and  with  a  plan  of  operation  quite  similar  to  that  in  vogue  in 
the  United  States.  There  is  an  organization  which  takes  care 
of  the  circulation  of  such  propaganda  as  may  tend  to  encourage 
the  small  cultivator  in  his  efforts  and  to  help  him  out  of  his 
difficulties. 

An  Agricultural  School  has  been  organized  and  established 
and  experimental  stations  are  also  being  started. 

The  great  problem  regarding  the  working  classes  has  been 
attacked  in  Yucatan  with  ample  appreciation  of  cause,  a  law 
having  been  decreed  which  creates  special  tribunals  for  com- 
pulsory conciliation  and  arbitration.  The  State  has  been  divided 
into  five  labor  districts  and  the  workmen  have  organized  into 
labor  unions.  The  tribunals  consist  of  representatives  of  the 
laborers  and  the  capitalists,  and  if  a  friendly  settlement  of  the 
matter  in  question  cannot  be  arrived  at  in  the  Council  of  Con- 
ciliation, the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration  gives  its  judgment  on  the 
case  within  a  fixed  time,  and  from  the  latter  judgment  there  is 
no  appeal.  The  Council  of  Conciliation  takes  the  matter  into 
consideration  and  has  power  to  impose,  for  the  term  of  one  month 
only,  and  on  trial,  an  arrangement  which  shall  have  the  force 


of  an  industrial  agreement  if  none  of  the  parties  concerned  en- 
ters protest  within  said  period.  The  Tribunal  of  Arbitration 
has  full  power  to  study  the  books  of  the  proprietors  and  go  to 
the  bottom  of  the  matter  in  question  in  order  to  judge  whether 
it  be  really  possible  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  laborers. 

Both  the  working  classes  and  the  capitalists  are  subject  to 
fines  if  they  do  not  comply  with  the  terms  of  the  industrial  agree- 
ments. The  purpose  is  to  suppress  strikes,  which  are  injurious 
to  all.  Nevertheless  the  right  to  go  on  strike  is  recognized  as 
the  supreme  measure  to  which  industrial  unions  may  have  re- 
course. The  law  establishes  measures  regarding  accidents  and 
provides  for  the  establishment  of  an  insurance  department  to  be 
controlled  by  the  government  in  case  private  insurance  agen- 
cies abuse  this  public  necessity.  Since  this  law  has  been  put 
into  force,  the  public  worker  has  come  to  understand  its  justice 
and  the  authorities  have  not  yet  had  to  debate  any  difficulties 
between  labor  and  capital,  these  seeming  to  adjust  themselves 
automatically  before  the  tribunals  mentioned.  Hence,  the  con- 
dition of  the  working  man  is  automatically  being  improved  with 
out  any  painful  shocks.  Besides,  a  reorganization  of  the  Labor 
Department  has  taken  place,  and  this  now  studies,  in  a  general 
way,  the  conditions  of  the  working  people  as  well  as  the  com- 
mercial prospects;  and  it  also  compiles  statistics.  This  is  one 
o^  the  most  valuable  and  conclusive  of  the  reforms  that  are  be- 
ing effected  in  Yucatan  and  shows  how,  if  efficient  official  power 
is  energetic  and  well-guided,  in  a  very  short  time  the  laborer 
gains  materially  both  in  an  economic  and  social  sense. 

With  the  finances  of  the  State  firmly  assured,  and  with  the 
people  living  and  moving  along  firmer  and  more  stable  social 
bases,  General  Alvarado  has  launched  farther  in  his  trial  of  the 
Socialist  state  and  will  endeavor  to  control  public  utilities  with- 
out speculative  aims  so  as  to  apportion  among  the  people  the 
essentials  for  increasing  their  prosperity. 

A  company  has  been  organized  with  a  million  dollars  to  con- 
struct a  railroad  that  will  unite  the  State  of  Yucatan  with  the 
Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  crossing  the  States  of  Campeche,  Tab- 
asco and  Chiapas.  These  regions  are  inconceivably  rich.  They 
abound  in  cattle  and  all  kinds  of  fruits  and  hardwoods.  Practi- 
cally speaking,  these  regions  have  been  unexplored  owing  to 
lack  of  adequate  means  of  communication. 

Yucatan  will  be  a  safe  and  reliable  market  for  all  of  these  pro- 
ducts and  there  will  be  no  need  of  importing  from  abroad  any 

10 


foodstuffs  whatever,  not  even  corn.  At  the  same  time,  this  rail- 
road will  unite  the  peninsula  with  the  capital  of  the  Republic, 
which  owing  to  motives  of  national  importance,  is  absolutely 
necessary.  The  other  works  which  the  company  will  undertake 
are :  The  introduction  of  petroleum  into  the  State,  constructioif 
of  the  Port  of  Progreso,  and  the  installation  of  a  line  of  steam- 
boats. Petroleum  will  cheapen  manufacturing  and  will  liberate 
for  other  industries,  fifteen  thousand  men  actually  employed  in 
timber-felling  to  such  an  extent  that  the  country  is  being  ruined 
through  deforestation,  and  the  climate  is  being  injuriously  af- 
fected. These  men  will  then  be  so  many  more  hands  gained  for 
more  productive  employment,  with  the  result  that  public  pros- 
perity will  be  greatly  increased.  Such  laborers  would  be  far  more 
valuable  than  immigrants,  since  they  are  already  acclimated. 
Besides,  with  the  aid  of  cheap  petroleum  more  extensive  immi- 
gration will  become  possible  and  thus  the  day  will  not  be  far 
distant  when  orchards  full  of  aromatic  fruits  and  vegetables, 
with  prosperous,  flourishing  ranches,  will  be  more  abundant. 
All  these  works  are  of  immense  social  importance,  since  they 
tend  to  enable  the  people  to  gain  their  livelihood  with  smaller 
living  expenses,  and  will  also  increase  the  productive  capacity 
of  the  State.  Thus  benefits  will  be  apportioned  among  all  in 
conformity  with  the  Agrarian  Law  and  that  of  Labor,  and  an 
era  of  the  greatest  prosperity  and  happiness  must  ensue.  The 
company  is  controlled  by  the  government,  which  subscribes  five 
per  cent,  of  the  capital,  and  the  rest  is  subscribed  by  private  in- 
dividuals. Its  purpose,  we  repeat,  is  not  a  business  investment; 
it  is  to  open  up  new  horizons  to  private  initiative,  and  above 
all,  to  control  those  services  of  public  utility  for  the  benefit  of  all 
and  not  of  a  few  concessionaires  as  was  formerly  the  custom. 

In  Yucatan  it  has  been  possible  to  advance  more  rapidly  than 
elsewhere  in  Mexico  in  the  work  of  reconstruction,  thanks  to  the 
characteristic  energy  and  spirit  of  General  Alvarado  and  also 
to  the  circumstances  that  there  they  have  had  more  peace  and 
less  fighting.  But  in  other  parts  of  the  country  also,  experiments 
have  been  made  in  the  line  of  the  general  plan  traced  out  by  the 
First  Chief  and  consistent  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  individuals 
actually  in  charge.  Naturally,  it  is  not  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
that  things  are  being  well  done,  and  we  have  to  acknowledge 
that  the  true  revolutionary  spirit  does  not  reign  in  the  hearts 
of  all  the  men  who  have  been  raised  to  eminence  by  the  Revolu- 
tion. Nevertheless  it  can  be  easily  understood  that  all  of  the 

11 


men  who  find  themselves  to-day  invested  with  power  and  who 
have  risen  without  any  previous  experience  whatever,  and  the 
majority  of  whom  indeed  are  ignorant  of  what  national  recon- 
struction signifies,  are  not  entirely  blamable.  In  every  case  the 
man  of  intellect  will  be  held  accountable. 

We  must  fain  acknowledge  that  there  are  abuses  and  thefts 
of  property  belonging  to  the  public,  and  we  also  admit  that  there 
are  not  a  few  whose  only  aim  is  to  acquire  great  wealth  rapidly ; 
but  this  is  natural,  and  the  history  of  this  world  proves  that 
the  same  thing  inevitably  occurs.  Revolutions  do  not  trans- 
form men  into  angels.  But  the  fact  remains  that  the  Socialistic 
ideal  is  incarnated  in  a  directing  majority  and  will  not  turn 
aside  from  carrying  out  its  aims  just  because  there  happen  to 
be  some  who  are  fools  and  others  who  are  knaves. 

This  is  not  mere  phrase-making.  Keen  activity  exists  in 
Mexico  for  the  solution  of  the  agrarian  problem ;  and  the  growth 
of  the  schools  is  such  that  to-day  in  some  parts  of  the  country 
the  teacher  gains  more  than  the  minister,  and  all  this  will  even- 
tually produce  unfailing  results.  Equable  taxation  and  free 
municipalities  will  infallibly  yield  hopeful  results  in  a  very  short 
time. 

The  students  of  sociology  of  the  entire  world  ponder  over 
these  facts  coldly  and  dispassionately,  and  realize  that,  apart 
from  all  false  interests  and  passions,  the  Mexican  problem 
points  to  one  section  more  of  mankind  that  has  destroyed  the 
feudal  yoke — by  means  of  bloodshed,  it  is  true,  but  this  is  a  de- 
tail— and  is  emerging  into  the  fulness  of  the  social  and  economic 
organization  of  a  free  and  contented  commonwealth. 

Every  honest  man,  every  man  who  does  not  have  two  moral 
codes,  one  private  and  the  other  public;  every  man  who  is  op- 
posed to  theft  in  private  life  must  also  be  opposed  to  any 
strong  nation  that  would  try  to  plunder  a  weaker  one,  and 
must  recognize  the  supreme  justice  of  the  efforts  which  these 
brave  leaders  are  making  to  form  a  pathway  for  the  people  of 
their  nation  that  will  lead  them  to  peace  and  contentment. 
Therefore,  no  one  can  approve  of  the  conduct  of  the  majority 
of  those  Americans  who,  in  our  country,  plead  for  intervention 
in  order  to  forward  their  individual  schemes  and  interests. 

I  do  not  make  accusations  lightly,  since  it  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  the  Americans  resident  in  Mexico  are  in  general  Repub- 
licans with  the  desire  for  intervention.  It  is  not  so  very  long 

12 


since  the  entire  American  population  in  Tampico,  made  pub- 
lic confession  that  they  had  aided  the  Republicans  with  money, 
and  urgently  requested  assurance  and  protection  for  the  im- 
mense wealth  in  petroleum  that  they  had  obtained  there  from 
the  former  Mexican  Government  for  nothing,  and  this  when 
they  were  not  in  the  slightest  danger. 

Recently  I  was  in  Mexico  City  and  went  frequently  to  the 
American  Club.  There  I  was  fully  convinced  how  charged  the 
atmosphere  was  with  the  desire  for  intervention.  There  they 
discussed  barefacedly  the  schemes  they  had  in  mind,  in  like 
manner  as  the  jackals  doubtless  take  counsel  together  when  they 
see  their  prospective  prey  in  its  agony.  The  United  States  of 
America  will  gain  nothing  whatever  by  intervention  in  Mexico, 
but  will,  on  the  contrary,  paralyze,  through  perverted  concep- 
tions of  humanity,  the  Socialistic  regeneration  that  is  progress- 
ing there.  On  the  other  hand,  it  will  certainly  have  great  ad- 
vantages to  gain  when  to  the  south  there  exists  a  civilized  na- 
tion with  perfect  understanding  and  appreciation  of  the  fellow- 
ship of  nations. 


13 


Does  Mexico  Interest  You? 

Then  you  should  read  the  following  pamphlets: 

What  thelCatholic  Church  Has  Done  for  Mexico,  by  Doctor. 

Paganel    I     4ft  1A 

The  Agrarian  Law  of  Yucatan f 

The  Labor  Law  of  Yucatan ; ; 

International  Labor  Forum , 

Intervene  in  Mexico,  Not  to  Make,  but  to  End  War,  urges  I       n  1  p. 

Mr.  Hearst,  with  reply  by  Holland f 

The  President's  Mexican  Policy,  by  F.  K.  Lane } 

The  Religious  Question  in  Mexico \ 

A  Reconstructive  Policy  in  Mexico >      0.10 

Manifest  Destiny j 

What  of  Mexico ) 

Speech  of  General  Alvarado >      0.10 

Many  Mexican  Problems ) 

Charges  Against  the  Diaz  Administration ^ 

Carranza   ^ /-      0.10 

Stupenduous  Issues '*. J 

Minister  of  the  Catholic  Cult ) 

Star  of  Hope  for  Mexico >      0.10 

Land  Question  in  Mexico / 

Open  Letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  Chicago,  111. ) 

How  We  Robbed  Mexico  in  1848,  by  Robert  H.  Howe >      0.10 

What  the  Mexican  Conference  Really  Means ) 

The  Economic  Future  of  Mexico * 

We  also  mail  any  of  these  pamphlets  upon  receipt  of  5c  each. 


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PAT.  JAM  21,  1908 


